PMI: India Services Activity Increases At Fastest Pace In Seven Years

India's services sector activity rose at the fastest pace in seven years in February, helped by a recovery in demand and business confidence, a private survey showed on Wednesday.

The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index rose to 57.5 in February compared with 55.5 in January, after dipping to a 19-month low in September. It was the highest reading since January 2013.

In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction or pessimism.

Companies that reported higher business activity spoke about stronger demand, supportive economic conditions, and accommodative public policies, according to IHS Markit's press release.

“Behind the resilience in the trend for business activity stands healthy demand for services from both the domestic and international markets,” Pollyanna de Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit said in the statement.

Here are some key highlights:

• Service providers enjoyed a marked increase in new work intakes during February, the second-fastest in over seven years.
• In some cases, the upturn in sales was linked to successful advertising.
• For business activity, the rise in new orders was widespread across the five monitored categories and led by Consumer Services.
• A return to growth of new orders from abroad contributed to the increase in total sales.
• Projects in the pipeline, supportive market conditions, marketing efforts and the offering of new services all contributed to a stronger degree of optimism among firms.
• Input prices in the service economy increased amid reports of higher food, labour, material and oil costs. Although marked, the rate of inflation softened from January.

The manufacturing PMI data released on Monday showed that manufacturing activity grew, but at a slower pace compared to that in January.

Composite PMI

Data for the month showed that robust increases in both manufacturing and services output pushed the growth of private sector business activity to an eight-year high.

The Composite PMI Output Index was up from 56.3 in January to 57.6, remaining above its long-run average of 54.6.